Not A Dream
by Victory Is For the Weak
Summary: Slade is back. Haunting Robin in his dreams and causing trouble in Jump City. Will Robin be able to finally defeat him with the help of his friends and family, or will Slade get the apprentice he always wanted? Feat. Batman, Alfred
1. Chapter 1

**[A/N]This is my first fanfiction thing, so please bear with me while I try to get a hang of things. Thanks. **

**Constructive criticism is always welcome. Or if you just really feel the need to tell me how horrible I am let me know and I'll just pretend you have a stick in an unpleasant place and perhaps suggest that you remove it promptly. **

**Disclaimer:** Like most people here, I only dream of owning the Teen Titans, or any of the DC characters. I don't though. *sigh*And that's probably for the best.

**Not A Dream **

**Chapter 1:**

His footsteps echoed in the still night, steel toes against the frozen ground of the docks. A chill trickled down his spine as the wind raked his gelled hair. He shivered and pulled his bright cape around his shoulders to no avail. The chill was already inside.

"_Robin…"_

He spun around, searching for that voice.

"_Oh, Robin…"_

It sounded so familiar. Who? Where?

"_Over here, Robin."_

There! He spotted a dark figure a block ahead of him and he took off, his boots clanging against the pavement. Subtlety was out of the question for now.

He reached a fork in the road. He looked both ways, but couldn't see the figure anywhere.

"Which way?" He panted, frustrated.

The storm that had been lurking on the edge of the horizon came in with a vengeance. Lightning flashed and lit up the docks. He spotted a moving shadow in the dancing light.

"There!" He took off. He knew these docks, and they way the figure was running was a dead end. He'd have him cornered.

"You have nowhere to go. Show yourself." He commanded. Pulling his bo-staff out, twirling it through his fingers, and positioning himself to attack.

The figure stepped out of the dark, revealing one bright eye set against copper plating. It glittered in the dark, taunting him with its very existence.

"Slade." Robin hissed.

Lightning flashed again, and the shadows Slade cast took on a darker form as the light faded away. Thunder sounded seconds later, almost drowning out the sound of screaming coming from behind the one-eyed man. Those screams..they were…familiar. Another scream broke the silence after the boom of thunder.

"Starfire!" He gasped. "What have you done to my friends?! Where are they?!"

"Your friends, Robin? Tsk, tsk." He shook his head. "You have no friends, my apprentice, only obstacles. Obstacles that I will help you overcome."

"I AM NOT YOUR APPRENTICE! I never will be!"

A smile curved the stony lips behind the black and copper mask. "Yes. You. Will." With that, he broke free from the darkness, and stepped into the dim light of the street lamp. His shadows tore themselves from him and rose up from the ground, forming four replicas of the assassin.

Robins jaw dropped for a second. He got control quickly and narrowed his eyes. What was this? Slade didn't have any abilities like this. What in the world was going on? Nothing good, he bet, raising his staff and putting some distance between himself and the five Slades.

"I'm not going to ask again, Slade. Where are they? What have you done with them?!"

A low chuckle emanated from beneath the mask, echoed by the shadow-Slades. The chill in Robin's spine grew, and an uneasy feeling turned his stomach.

"Dead, Robin. Your 'friends' are all dead."

No. No. "NO!" Robin almost dropped his staff, his eyes wide with shock. This couldn't be true…it just couldn't. His friends couldn't be dead. But why would Slade lie about that? Slade. His mind recoiled at the name. He was poison, the sickness that caused Robin to distance himself from his friends, to lose sleep, to push himself into obsession. If his friends _were_ dead, it was Slade's fault, and he would pay.

Adrenaline coursed through his veins and anger ripped through his body, channeling itself into each strike of his staff as he lunged into the group of Slades. Hit. Kick. Punch. Block. Kick. Punch. He twisted through the air, his feet coming down on the final shadow-Slade's chest, knocking him to the ground. He flipped back and brought his staff down on the mask with a resounding *CLANG*. It splintered beneath his rage.

He stepped back, panting and surveyed the damage. Surrounding him were the bodies of the shadow-Slades, each broken and bleeding. But, he thought, there were only four of them. Where was…He looked up. Nothing. Behind him, no one. Where?

"Looking for me?" Slade asked, a hint of amusement had seeped its way into his voice.

"Tell me where they are! TELL ME!" He choked, his throat tight with emotion. He raised his staff once more, preparing to attack again, though he could feel the effects of the adrenaline wearing off, and his bones began to ache and drag his flesh down. While he had beaten the other Slades definitively, they had gotten in a few well placed hits.

"Next time pay attention when I am speaking, it's rude to ask me to repeat myself."

"SLADE!" He shouted.

"Fine, Robin, but don't think you're going to get away with that tone. As I said before, your friends are all…" Slade paused and motioned toward the shadow-Slades. "DEAD."

Lightning illuminated the docks once more, thunder crashing down around Robin's ears, and as he watched, a dark substance seeped off the bodies and slid back to form Slade's shadow once more, leaving behind familiar shapes. Robin stared at the forms left on the ground. They were his friends. Beast Boy. Cyborg. Raven. Starfire. All bloody, twisted shapes in the dark. Broken by his hands, beaten by his staff. He gasped. They were dead. He killed them. The rain poured down, turning the pools of blood into rivers and lakes around his feet.

"No. No…" He fell to his knees, splashing into the red liquid. "Please…no. I-I didn't mean to…I'm so sorry..so..sorry…" His staff clattered against the pavement. He felt numb. He stared at the closest body, Starfire. He couldn't help it. He looked at her face, stained with blood and grit. Her eyes. Her eyes…they were speaking to him. Calling out for help. Asking "why?". He had no answer.

A shadow cast itself over him, and he looked up, his eyes blank behind his mask. He didn't even feel the first blow to his head. Or the second to his chest, knocking him on his back. He had separated himself, but slowly the pain of Slades boot on his chest brought him back to his senses.

_Fight._

What? Was that him? Why was he talking to himself?

_FIGHT. GET UP AND FIGHT. _

Why? I killed them. There's no reason to fight anymore. I deserve this.

_Slade will win if you don't fight. _

So?

_SO?! Slade is a bad person. We can't let him win!_

I'm a bad person too.

_NO! We didn't know. WE DIDN'T KNOW. Slade tricked us. Slade needs to be stopped, preferably before he hurts anyone else. Namely us. _

Right.

Robin knocked Slades foot off his chest and rolled out of the way as it came down a second time. He got to his feet and began to fight. The blows came fast, faster than normal. Slade wasn't holding back anymore. He had been just barely blocking the punches and kicks, but his foot slipped in the rain and he stumbled back, giving Slade the advantage. In seconds he was on the ground, his arms behind him at an awkward angle. Pain laced through his body.

Suddenly a new shadow appeared, dark against the black sky. A shadow with pointed ears. The new shadow tackled Slade, and by the time Robin had rolled over and managed to get to his feet, Slade was on the ground, tied up and motionless.

"Batman. I-" He looked around at his friends, too ashamed to even look at his mentor. He suddenly lost all his words. "I-I.."

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He raised his eyes..and felt the hand move down to his chest, where the R insignia rested. Batman ripped it from his uniform, and threw it to the ground, crunching it to pieces beneath his boots.

"Wha-" Robin started.

But Batman's hand was coming up again, this time stripping Robin of his mask. He stumbled backwards, suddenly feeling naked and alone.

"I-I don't…"

"You are not worthy." Batman's voice was gravel to his ears.

Robin looked up again, this time seeing only the black flash of movement before he was backhanded across his now naked face. He fell to the ground, watching as a huge, black boot sped toward his face.

Just before it connected, Robin awoke, gasping for breath. He sat up in his bed, sweat dripping from his brow. Where was he? What was happening? Were his friends…? It was a…dream? But it was so real. He reached his hand up to his face and felt the familiar black mask stuck over his eyes. He had taken to sleeping with it on when Slade had re-emerged in Jump City. It was a dream then. He sighed and tried to calm down.

It took him a few minutes to slow his racing heart. But he still felt sticky and hot in this bed. His climbed out, his feet padding the cold floor to his door. He moved down the hall, and when he reached Beast Boy's room, he paused, listening outside the door. He heard what could have been mistaken as a lawnmower and a smile crept its way onto his face. They were okay.

The smile had faded and been replaced with a deep frown by the time he reached the kitchen and filled a glass with water. He drank, thinking about his dream. Slade he could understand. He was no stranger in Robin's dreams. Even his friends' deaths had been visitors of late. But he had never been so directly responsible. And Batman…why was Batman there? He shook his head. He knew. Wasn't his greatest fear disappointing Bruce so much that he would strip the identity of Robin away from him forever? Hadn't Bruce threatened that same action last year, before he left for the titans?

Robin sighed and set his now empty glass on the counter.

"Robin?" He turned as he heard a female voice call out to him.

"Hey, Raven."

"you've…you've been having nightmares." She wasn't asking, meaning she probably had seen a fair amount of his nightmare in her mind. After entering his mind a while ago when Slade had infected him with that hallucinogenic dust, Raven had formed a bond with Robin's mind, making it easier for her to see and feel what he was thinking.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. How much had she seen? Had she seen her own broken body beneath him?

"It's not your fault."

They stood there awkwardly, Robin not meeting her eyes.

"Besides," She continued. "I don't think we would go down _that_ easily." A faint smile danced briefly across her lips.

"Heh. I don't doubt it."

Quiet for a moment. This time a more comfortable silence.

Then Raven spoke again.

"Maybe.." She hesitated, knowing that what she was about to suggest was not going to be taken well. "Maybe you should talk to someone about these nightmares."

"It doesn't have to be me" She added quickly. "Maybe another Titan. Speedy? Or Wally? Even Starfire. Or.."

"I'm not talking to Batman. Especially not about this." His tone was final.

"Fine. But someone."

"Maybe…" The nightmares were getting worse, and nothing he had done so far (burying the thoughts deeper and deeper) had done any good. Maybe Wally. Speedy would just make fun of him. Scratch that. Wally would too. Starfire..she might understand, if only he could get the image of her accusing, glassy eyes out of his head. Maybe…Alfred. He would know what to say. The only problem would be getting him to keep it from Bruce. But then, Bruce had his own issues to deal with and probably wouldn't be too concerned with Dick having nightmares. After all, they came with the territory.

Before he could make a decision, the alarm screamed trouble. He and Raven ran from the kitchen to the large computer console, currently displaying a map of the city with a red, pulsating dot coming from the docks.

The docks. Was this a coincidence?

Cyborg came up from behind them, Starfire close behind. Beast Boy stumbled forward, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Robin felt a pang of guilt. Then he focused on the matter at hand.

"There's a disturbance at the docks. Looks like someone's trying to break into one of the warehouses." Robin stated. "Let's suit up and go."

"Ugh. Why can't people break into warehouses at a reasonable time?" Beast Boy whined. "It's three in the morning! Don't they have to sleep?!"

"Maybe they have just finished the hibernating, friend Beast Boy, and are looking for a snack?" Starfire had just finished watching a documentary on bears on the Discovery channel.

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow . "Uh…Star? Humans don't hibernate."

"Oh. Well, then what about-"

Robin had had enough. His guilt over killing them in his dream vanished and was replaced by annoyance. "TITANS!" He shouted. "GO!"

Less than a minute later they were speeding toward the docks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **NO. I still don't own the Teen Titans. If I did, well…there would be a lot more seasons and a lot more Slade. Oh well.

**[A/N] Sorry it took me so long to upload this next chapter. On the plus side, I've already started working on the 3****rd**** chapter. Thanks for bearing with me. **

**Chapter 2**

Tires squealed at the T-car slid to a stop outside of the warehouse district by the docks. The titans leapt out and looked around. There were so many warehouses and if you didn't know where you were going, you would be lost in the concrete maze. Fortunately, Robin thought, the intruders managed to set off the alarm and were know exactly where they are.

Robin signaled for his teammates to get to the warehouse and surround it from all sides. He would get inside and scope it out. They nodded and took off. Raven floated off in the direction with a large green bird doing cannonball dives beside her. Starfire streaked through the night sky, leaving traces of a neon green behind her. Cyborg and Robin jogged on foot toward the building, Robin even let Cyborg get slightly ahead of him so he could think.

He could almost see the lightning, hear the screams of his friends, despite the night being calm and clear and quiet. Why did it have to be the docks? He groaned inwardly, and mentally kicked himself. He had to focus! He couldn't be daydreaming. _That_ was a dream. _This_ is real.

He had reached the entrance to the warehouse and could hear faint shifting and moving inside. A quick look around and he could see his team take up their positions behind him. He nodded silently at Cyborg, the closest Titan to his position. Cyborg got the message. He focused his mechanical eye on the building in front of him and used his infrared vision.

There they were, in the middle of the warehouse, Slade-bots. But-wait. What were they doing? His sensors picked up the faint sound of breaking glass, so faint he doubted any of his non-cybernetic companions could hear it. He zoomed in. The Slade-bots were breaking glass plates and vases. The question remained. Why? What was the point?

But before he could think about it any further, Robin shot him a look. The look he knew Robin must have practiced in the mirror a thousand times before he got it just right. Or maybe it was a bat thing. He sighed and answered Robin's questioning gaze.

"Slade-bots." He whispered, as Robin appeared beside him. If he had actual skin it would crawl. _How did he always manage to do that?!_ He noticed Robin's eyes widen through the mask, then narrow with determination. This was not good, Robin always let his emotions control him whenever Slade was even remotely involved. At least this time there were only 10 bots and the Titans could back him up.

Robin noticed Cyborg staring at his face. He hesitated for a second, wondering if Cyborg saw the flash of apprehension in his eyes. But no, of course he didn't, his mask protected him.

"How many?" If Cyborg noticed how long Robin had taken to answer the question, he didn't mention it.

"Ten."

Ten? Why so few? Was this a trap? And so soon after that dream…no..that _nightmare_. This can't be a coincidence. All his anger, all his guilt surged forward as he recalled the moment Slade had stood over him laughing at his friend's broken bodies.

"But, Rob-" Cyborg began to tell him what the bots were doing, but Robin cut him off, charging from where they knelt in the shadows and vaulting himself through an open window, crying out,

"Titans-GO!"

At the sound of Robin's cry, Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy lunged after him into the building, leaving Cyborg to mumble, "-it's probably a trap…"

He made a quick scan, to settle his growing nerves, and after finding nothing out of the ordinary, followed his teammates. For some reason, he completely missed the single eye staring out at him from across the docks, waiting, biding his time.

The Titans attacked as one, and after a few minutes of starblasts, sonic canons, shouts of "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos!!", swipes of Beast Boys large paws, and Robin's bo-staff, the ten robots were reduced to five, one for each Titan.

Beast Boy morphed into a cheetah and leapt after his robot, dodging the energy blasts from the robot's gun. Starfire was shooting green disks of light at hers, saying, "I do not wish to destroy you," but after one of the blasts from the Slade-bots gun connected with her chest, her eyes glowed green and she shouted, "but I will, evil bot of Slade!!!"

Raven and Cyborg used the crates around them to smash into their respective opponents, creating even more shattered glass. Cyborg shouted "Boo-YAH!!" as he finished his and went to help Beast Boy, who was now a warthog. Robin was dodging the energy his Slade-bot was shooting at him, but his foot slipped on a large piece of glass on the floor, giving his enemy the chance to pick something off the floor and race out of the building. Robin growled and picked himself up off the floor, ignoring a sharp pain in his left thigh and followed the robot.

The pain in his thigh shot through his leg as his boots pounded the pavement. He spotted the shadowy figure of the Slade-bot up ahead and had a strange feeling of déjà vu. He almost skidded to a stop when the images of his nightmare not an hour ago flooded back. _Can't stop now though, dream or not._ He whipped around a corner, a sudden cold wind biting into him. The Slade-bot was stopped with its back to Robin, still cradling whatever it had taken from the warehouse in its limbs. Robin jumped forward, his leg outstretched and landed a solid hit to the back of the robot's head, pushing it down to the ground. He rolled to his feet and pulled his staff out. The Slade-bot didn't get up. It didn't even move. Robin tentatively poked it with his staff, keeping a far enough distance just in case. When the robot made no effort to move, Robin used his staff to flip it over onto its back. He gasped.

"What? What's going on?" He whispered. The Slade-bot had a knife stuck through its chest and a bullet hole in its head. Robin noticed the object the Slade-bot had gone to so much trouble to steal, it was a glass elephant. Well, it used to be. Its legs and trunk were broken off, crushed beneath the weight of the robot.

"This doesn't make sense." Robin pulled out his Titan's communicator to check in when he heard a slow clunking coming from behind him. It sounded like..footsteps?

Back in the warehouse, the rest of the Titans had finished off the four Slade-bots, and were currently feeling proud that they had stopped the menace. But Cyborg felt his uneasy feeling return. He looked around, scanning the wreckage for any signs of other robots. He found nothing, which should have been comforting, but he realized that he couldn't find Robin either, but he did see a smear of red on the warehouse floor. Starfire had noticed as well.

"Friends," She started, floating over to them. "I am greatly pleased that we are triumphant, but where is Robin?"

Cyborg felt the uneasy feeling grow stronger as he began to piece the night together. "Uh-oh. This isn't good."

"WHAT?" Beast Boy shouted, clearly not getting it."What about this isn't good?! We put the bad guys down! We totally rock, dude! And we even beat these guys without Robin going completely nuts on them!"

"Exactly." Raven intoned, her voice lacking emotion as usual.

"Huh?" Beast Boy was still not getting it. Raven sighed loudly, but before she could tear him down, Cyborg responded.

"Think about it, BB. Slade-bots + missing Robin equals what?"

"EEep!" Beast Boy finally got it. "Slade?"

Starfire's eyes burned green. "We _must_ find friend Robin before that doer of evil harms him."

"Agreed. Titans, head out." Cyborg led the way, scanning the surrounding areas for traces of Robin. Raven let her mind travel, searching for emotions in the dark night. Her glowing white eyes widened as she felt a sense of loathing and fear. _Robin, and he's not alone._

A chill trickled down Robin's back as the slow thumps stopped right behind him.

"Who's there?" He called out, but he already had an idea of who it was.

The same low chuckle that haunted his sleeping mind came from behind him, and Robin couldn't stop himself from shaking with pent up rage.

"Who else would it be, apprentice?"

"Slade." He growled.

"Ooh. I always knew you were smart." Robin felt a hand lower itself on his head, heavy and warm. He shook it off and flipped over the destroyed bot.

"Why are you here?"

"You always get straight to the point. I like that about you, but you really need to learn to enjoy the game, Robin." His voice was smooth and cold and it sank into Robin like poison, infecting his ears and his mind.

"_This _is a GAME to you?!"

Slade sighed. "Everything's a game, Robin. You just need to learn-" But Robin didn't hear what he was supposed to learn, because at that moment he struck Slade with his staff, unable to contain his anger anymore.

Slade tutted and blocked. "Well. I had only wanted to talk to you, apprentice, but it seems you are in no mood. I'll just have to punish you for your insolence."

"YOU CAN TRY!!" Robin's hatred of the man was overpowering every sense he had, so it was understandable that he didn't see his friends arriving behind Slade. He kept punching and kicking, striking Slade whenever possible, but his anger blinded him while Slade kept himself cool and methodical. One second Robin was about the bring his staff down on Slade's head, and the next he was flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him and stars spinning around his head.

Slade stood over him and grabbed the front of his uniform, bringing their faces inches apart.

"ROBIN!" Starfire's scream tore through him, and his eyes widened, losing focus. Everything seemed too unreal at the moment. His mind swam with memories and dreams. What was real?

"Starfire…" Robin said weakly.

Slade backhanded him. "Pay attention."

"Get off!" Robin struggled out of his grasp, rolling out of harm's way as his friends raced toward them, green bolts and dark auras preceding them. Slade moved out of the way with little effort.

"Another time, then. We will see each other again soon, apprentice." With that he faded into the background.

"Robin! Are you alright?" Cyborg and the others reached him as he slowly stood up, wincing as his thigh reminded him of his own mortality.

"Yeah. Just peachy."

"Hmm?" Starfire asked, coming over to him. "You are not at all pink and fuzzy."

Beast Boy let out a small giggle, no doubt picturing Robin as a pink, fuzzy peach.

"It was a-" Cyborg didn't get to finish.

"A trap. Yeah. I should have known." His fists were clenched against his side.

"Robin…" Starfire moved closer to him, grabbing his hands in hers, only then noticing the blood on them. "You are injured, friend Robin?" She gasped.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I slipped on a piece of glass in the warehouse."

"OH NO!!! Robin has been HURT, friends!!" Starfire shouted dramatically, wringing her hands.

"Star…it's really not that bad…" But Robin didn't get to finish, because at that time Starfire was hugging him fiercely, telling him it was going to be alright. The last thing he heard before his vision went dark was Raven's voice.

"You might want to ease up. He can't breathe…"

From one of his many hideouts in Jump City, the one-eyed villain watched the scene on his hidden cameras with disgust. Robin's friends were dragging his down once more. He would have to fix that.

"The game has just begun."

**[A/N] Okay. So there's chapter 2. It's not as good as chapter 1, but hopefully chapter 3 will be much better. Let me know what you think! Thanks to everyone who reviewed: ****xrockin robin****, Bane WolfBlood, TheDentistNemesis, SladinForever, and Sarah.**


	3. Chapter 3

**[A/N] Yeah. It's been longer than I hoped since last publishing. Life and school interfered a lot, which is why this chapter is significantly shorter. Hopefully, since break is coming up I can get the two other chapters I've been working on done. Thank you for your patience.**

**Disclaimer: No. I definitely do not own the Teen Titans. I don't even know what I would do with them if I did….**

**Chapter Three**

Raven had wrapped Robin up beneath her cape and transported them both to the tower. She didn't know how bad the cut in his leg was, and wasn't going to take the chance that it had cut an artery. Of course, this meant that she couldn't heal him until she meditated; the fight and transporting them had left her with very little energy. She now sat beside the exam table, debating whether or not she should strip his uniform off. A very faint rose color touched her cheeks for half a second at the thought of being alone with a pants-less Robin. She shook her head to clear all thoughts and silently scolded herself. All modesty aside, Robin needed help and she was the only one who could provide it at the time. She snatched up a scalpel and neatly cut the uniform off his left leg. He had lost quite a bit of blood, but it didn't seem like the glass had ripped anything other than muscle. The next part would be tough, and she really wanted Cyborg here now. She had to make sure there wasn't any glass left in the wound, and didn't have any interest in digging around in his leg.

Hmm…She thought. Maybe she could summon any shards out of his leg. But then, who knows what they would cut. If she summoned them and a shard was close to his femoral artery he would bleed out in minutes. Raven was in the middle of debating this when she heard the sounds of the remaining Titans arriving and felt their worry. She sighed with relief. Cyborg could examine Robin now. She would not be left in this potentially awkward situation for much longer.

A whoosh of the door sounded the presence of the others in the infirmary.

"Friend Raven, how is Robin? Oh no. He is not moving! Friend Robin!" Starfire wailed and rushed over to stand behind Raven. "Um..friend Raven…why is Robin without pants?" Her voice took on an accusatory tone.

Raven blinked. What? What was up with the surprise and slight animosity radiating off her friends? Oh. She tried to explain. "He's unconscious. And…I had to cut his pants leg off to get to the cut…his pants are still technically on.."

Starfire was not to be placated. Her eyes tinted the faintest green, and Raven backed away, revealing Robin's unconscious and naked leg. Starfire hovered over him protectively.

"Cyborg, maybe you could check for glass?" Raven suggested, a slight hint of hopefulness crept into her voice, pulling Cyborg out of his amused trance. He came over all business and shooed them off, knowing Robin would already hate that they had seen him vulnerable and partly naked. His mouth twitched. Raven sunk through the floor, relieved to be able to meditate. Beast Boy bounded off with shouts of "Ultimate Ninjas 4!!" The newest video game he had acquired. Starfire shielded her eyes, but refused to leave Robin's side. Cyborg just grunted, knowing that Robin would not mind her being there.

He removed the rest of Robin's pants leg and got to work on the shards.

* * *

"Ugh." Robin awoke to an unpleasant taste in his mouth and the feel of cold steel beneath him. He swallowed a few times in a feeble attempt to rid himself of the weird cottony and copper taste. He gave up and focused on trying to open his eyes. The dimmed lights of the Titans Tower infirmary greeted him. Why was he here? He tried to sit up on the table and was immediately reminded by an aching in his chest, a tingling sensation somewhere behind his eyes and a dull pain in his leg. Right. Robots, glass, Slade, Starfire. Wait- SLADE. He almost growled. How had he fallen for that trap?! It seemed so obvious now. He was going to have to work harder if he was to defeat him. Or at the very least not fall into traps any idiot would recognize.

He pushed himself up more carefully now and noticed his left thigh was thickly bandaged and stripped of his uniform. His eyebrow went up. Where was his pants leg?

A light snore and a mumble of "…grizzlorp.." brought his attention to the bed next to his. A purple and orange being was stretched out there. Starfire. His lips moved as he whispered her name, and ended in a smile. She must have felt bad about nearly crushing him to death. To be honest though, he didn't really mind having her body pressed up against his so tight. It was almost worth the slight tinges of pain and lack of air.

He slowly got up, making sure his weight was off his left leg as much as possible, and limped out of the infirmary. He had to record the mission, and think.

Up in his room, surrounded by newspaper clippings and computer images of Slade, he felt eerily at home. He knew what to do here, find Slade. Defeat Slade. He could do this. He began to type up a report, reliving every aspect of the night. This just made him angrier. Ten Slade-bots should not have been a problem. They should have taken them all out in minutes, not allowing that one to run away. He shouldn't have allowed Slade to get close to him or them again. He growled and his hands curled into fists. He was supposed to be the leader. He was supposed to protect the others. But what had he done? Nothing. His fists pounded the table with a loud thud. He almost got himself killed or worse, taken by Slade again. Where would the Titans be then? If anything happened to them it would be on _him_, it would be _his_ fault.

He put his head in his hands, fatigue overwhelming him. He would just close his eyes for a second, just a sec-

He was running through the docks again. Legs pumping furiously. His breath harsh and painful in the cold air. But he kept going. He knew he couldn't stop. Something was behind him, chasing him. The darkness wrapped around him like a thick cloak, cold and suffocating. He could feel whoever was chasing him quicken their pace. He tried to speed up, but his legs were burning and his lungs felt like smoldering coals burning up against any oxygen that gets close. He felt that something wasn't right, but couldn't put his finger on it.

He was coming up on another block of warehouses, and he knew that he couldn't outrun whoever was behind him, but he did still have one advantage. He saw the bars up along the side of the warehouse and was reminded of his training, not as Robin, one half of the Dynamic Duo, but as a Flying Grayson. So, he did the only thing he could think to do, he flew.

Dick grasped the bars on the warehouse and vaulted himself up, soaring through the air, his rubber clad fingers only occasionally gripping rusted metal. On the last bar he flipped himself up and found himself rolling to his feet on the roof. He found himself leaping from warehouse to warehouse, free from the clutches of the darkness of the ground. A smile began to mold itself on his face as he felt the air rushing past him as his feet left the cement.

He found himself standing in the middle of one the roofs, completely lost in the freedom of the night.

A sharp CRACK brought him back down to reality. Well, as close to reality as he could come to. He tensed and looked around. A shadowy figure crouched on the edge of the warehouse across from him. He couldn't see who it was, but it seemed familiar. The figure raised its cloaked head and stared straight at him. Robin began to feel unnerved and took a few steps toward the figure, who was now looking back down at the alley between the two warehouses. Robin's curiosity was taking hold of him now. He wanted to know who the figure was, why he had been chasing him, and what he was looking at now. Suddenly another CRACK sounded. This time it came from behind the shadow. Robin started forward when the figure leapt up and fled after the sound, melting back into the night.

Robin took a few steps back and started to run across the roof, intent on jumping to the next building and following the figure and the sounds, but when he reached the ledge, it crumbled beneath his feet and he began to fall. He reached his arms out, hoping the edge of the roof was closer than it appeared, but the distance began to stretch until the building was no longer visible. With a cry he plummeted to the cold ground.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't take things that don't belong to me. But I do borrow….like so…**

**[A/N] Yep. Long, long time. I lost my angst muse. So I shot a few bunnies. Totally fluffy, adorable, fictional bunnies. They ran away with my plots. Had diabolical plans. Had to be stopped, you see. You don't see? Oh well. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited or put this on their story alert. It means a lot. **

**Chapter Four**

His cheek was cold. No, not just his cheek. His entire body was cold, pressed against the cold cement where he had fallen. The world seemed to shift sideways whenever he opened his eyes, and somewhere in his mind he recognized that he shouldn't even be able to open his eyes after a fall like that. But that voice became overpowered by another, a voice with only one thing to say, "OOooww."

He felt like he was in some new remake of Body Snatchers, a film outlawed in the Tower after the Titans had met Brother Blood. His arms detached themselves from the wet concrete and pushed his numb body off the ground. Groaning, he wobbled for a few shaky steps before he fell into the familiar rhythm of walking.

Looking up at the roof where he had fallen, he wondered how he was still alive. The drop was at least 50 feet and he wasn't even trying to break his fall. Another odd thing. Why hadn't he tried to catch something, or land correctly? A sick feeling began to brew in his stomach, and as he walked along the sides of the warehouses it crept into his bones. _What was going on?_

***CRACK***.

"What the-?!" His whole body jumped. He knew that sound. And the faint flash of light coming from a couple alleys down. The sick feeling spread.

He tumbled toward the alley stepping just out of the lamplight and froze.

Before him there was a large, lumpy figure surrounded by red. His body moved closer of its own volition. The lumpy thing wasn't really lumpy, more like…hairy. Green and hairy. It was a green, hairy…wildebeest? He reached out toward it. Oh…G-

***BANG***

His hand snapped back to his side. If this was…He had to hurry.

But it didn't matter. By the time he had reached the next lamppost, there was another puddle of red and blue and...grey.

"No..." Why hadn't he been there? Why were the Titans out without him?! He shook his head as he ran for the next light, hoping, praying he would get there in ti-

***BANG***

He was so close; he could see the shadowy figure and the flash before a cloaked figure fell down from the sky.

"Oh G-" He only paused for a second by the violet bulge, knowing he couldn't help her now. His ears pricked with a familiar clicking sound. A pistol cocking.

"MURDERER!!" His mask stretched to its limits as his eyes widened. He had never heard Starfire sound so full of rage. But when he saw her, she was backing away from the light, her body contorted in fear. Not for the first time that night, Robin wondered what in the hell was going on.

Though the gun pointed at Starfire did quell his curiosity for the time being. A soon as the arm holding the offensive hunk of metal came into view, he struck. His outstretched foot kicked the gun out of the strangers hand at the same time the trigger was pulled. The hand recoiled into the darkness, melting away. Robin took a defensive posture, waiting for an attack that never came. He only broke free from his stance when he heard a small moan. His head whipped around and his eyes found the source.

"No." He seemed to be saying that word a lot these days.

He hadn't been fast enough. Or strong enough. Or anything enough. He just plain wasn't enough. And his friends had paid for his weakness. _Starfire_ was paying for his weakness. She was just laying there, at the edge of the lamplight. Her hair fanned out beneath her, providing some comfort against the cold stones. Her legs were bent at the knees and her arms were stretched out. She looked as if she were just waking from a dream and was reaching out towards him. Her body was lax, calm.

But her eyes. Her _eyes_. They showed the agony her body could no longer display.

Robin knelt down beside her, touching her face, trying to wipe away the salty rivulets making their way down her cheeks. He tried to comfort her, cooing that it was going to be alright, knowing otherwise. Because while he could wipe away the tears, there was nothing he could do to stem the flow of blood coming from beneath her. He couldn't find the source. The blood was just pouring from her, and before he knew it, his hands were covered in it. He could feel it soaking into his rubber, staining.

He was so lost in his own utter failure to save her that he almost missed the rasping noise she was making.

"Friend Robi-" A funny gurgle followed. "I knew…I knew you would not…" More of the gurgling sounds. For some strange reason her mouth twitched slightly upward.

_Oh God. She knew I would fail. She knew I wouldn't save her in time. GOD! No! No! There was still time, right? She was still speaking. She could make it. No. She __**would**__ make it._

He reached down, intent on picking her body up, but she stopped him.

"No..Robin…I cannot feel…" Her breath caught on those last words, and Robin felt like his heart had stopped. Her eyes just looked up at him. The agony entrenched forever in their emerald gaze.

He froze, waiting for her to finish, to blink. When she just lay there, he shook her. And when she made no sounds, he grabbed her up close to him, smothering his face with her crimson tresses. He just breathed her in, his mouth stretched open in a silent cry.

A cold laugh jolted his heart back into beating. It echoed in the empty warehouse district. No, not empty. Desolate.

He gently laid the Tameranian back down and rose. This time his cry broached the surface.

"Who are you?! Show yourself, MURDERER!!" He growled, his hands stiffening around his staff, despite the slippery texture of his gloves.

The slight thump of steel toed boots reached his ears, and seconds later the figure he had called stretched forth from the shadows, swathed in its dark nature.

"murderer?" The voice was cold and detached as it whispered to him. Another small chuckle fed Robin's rage. "I suppose.."

Robin threw himself at the stranger. Hitting, kicking, striking. He felt the blows connect. Each and every one, but the figure in black wasn't going down. He didn't even look like it hurt. He was going to have to do something quick, because even if the figure wasn't getting tired, he was. He could feel every muscle aching, every bruise beginning to form, and worst of all, he could feel the stabbing pain in his chest every time he glanced at Starfire's body.

He ran at the man, twisting his body and positioning the butt of his staff so it would, at the very least, break a few ribs. The man caught it. Robin's eyes widened. The man knew what he was going to do, and he caught his staff. Still in shock, he wrenched it from the figure's hands. He struck again. And again. And again. And every time, his staff was caught inches before it reached its target. Even Batman didn't catch his staff every time. _Who was this person?!_ _Who knew his every move?_

Even in shock, after finding Starfire dead, his training kicked in. His brain went into overdrive and his body reacted to the physical threat, all the while his teeth had to restrain his tongue from unleashing ridiculous pun after ridiculous pun. Something told him that those remarks would not disarm or deceive this opponent. So, Robin adopted one of his mentor's tactics, silence.

His adversary chuckled at this new approach. "They do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Robin remained silent, trying not to let his shock show through.

"Next, I suppose, you'll be dishing out bat-glares of your own. Typical."

His next strike met air as the man shifted into the darkness. Robin could feel him circling. He was reminded of a documentary he had watched with the Titans on lions. He searched the shadows for any signs of movement, and when that didn't work, he shut his eyes, listening to every drop of water, every rustle.

Nothing.

Not.

A.

Thing.

This was really starting to creep him out. Even Slade made some sort of sound, faint as it was. Hell, even Batman made sounds, you just had to know what to listen for. He began to think that his opponent wasn't human at all. But then, he never did understand how anyone could murder and still be human.

Murder.

The word brought a cold fury to him. His insides clenched up, and he could feel his rage take over. Starfire was dead. Beast Boy-dead. Cyborg-dead. Raven-DEAD. He would take his guilt, his pain, his grief and use it. He'd done it before, and he would do it now.

Robin's eyes shot open at the exact time the cold steel of the gun scraped the pavement. His opponent was armed. But then, so was he.

The darkness swirled around him, clouding his eyes, bringing forth things he didn't want to remember, faces he didn't want to see.

"I'm going to KILL YOU!!!" Robin shouted, breaking free from stance, and letting his emotions guide him.

"This should be good." The dark hand reached up for his mask as Robin let out a battle cry.

"RRAAAAGGGHH-" He lost his air around the same time the mask clattered on the ground.

He looked up in shock, as his face peered out across the darkness at him. This had to be a trick. Some sort of sick, twisted trick.

"What? No longer feeling suicidal?" He watched himself laugh and raise his gun. "That's too bad. 'Cause I am."

***BANG***

***BANG***

***BAN-**

**[A/N] Christmas Miracle? I think so. Yeah. So..again..sorry about the delay. Also, I just got off of school and got my wisdom teeth surgically removed (yay for stitches in my mouth and awkward bruises…). No, I'm not taking any hydrocodone, so there's no excuse for any weirdness or anything. (though I am starting to wonder about those antibiotics…)**

**And yes, if any of you noticed, I did use Barbara Gordon's encounter with the Joker as inspiration for Starfire's death scene in the dream. Yes, I realize the Joker is not in the dream, nor is Batgirl paralyzed at this point. I just like the idea of foreshadowing. So I borrowed. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me!! Hopefully you still will. **

**Lemme know how I'm doing. What you like/what you hate/anything helpful. **

**-Victory. **


	5. Chapter 5

**[A/N] ****Hoots****-this is for you. Your wish is my command. I'm ignoring my Macbeth presentation and blog and poetry homework just for you. I expect that cherry to be fedex-ed. (jk. kinda) Also, thanks to ****Noradiana**** and ****The Dark Side Has Yaoi**** for reviewing. It really helps me to get on top of stuff and write this. So, oddly, I'm taking a small break from angst with this chapter. I promise not to do that too much. I plan on this getting pretty dark. So that's a future warning. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans. Wow this is redundant. I feel like Bart Simpson stuck in detention. I don't own the Teen Titans. I don't own the Teen Titans….I do own this plot though. **

**[Previously:]**

_He looked up in shock, as his face peered out across the darkness at him. This had to be a trick. Some sort of sick, twisted trick. _

"_What? No longer feeling suicidal?" He watched himself laugh and raise his gun. _

_***BANG***_

_***BANG***_

_***BAN-**_

[NOW.]

***BANG***

Starfire stood facing Robin's door, her hand resting on the cool metal. She wondered if she should knock again, after all, Robin could be sleeping. She had seen the dark circles that had made their home under his eyes, and the red lines that stretched across his pupils as of late. He needed rest, that she knew. But he also needed his leg checked, and she had enthusiastically volunteered to be the one to check Robin out. Yes, she nodded; she quite enjoyed checking Robin out.

"Robin?" Her voice was a raised whisper.

Robin stirred inside, the voice pulling him completely out of the nightmare and into his dimly lit room. Sleep caked the corner of his eyes, and his throat felt hoarse with unheard cries. Slowly, he pushed himself away from his desk and leaned back in his chair, eyes focused beyond the ceiling. His arms hung limp by his sides, unable to gather the strength to wrap them around his shivering body.

Outside the room Starfire pressed her cheek against the door, listening for any sorts of movement. Surely friend-Robin had not left the room without the rest of them knowing. _Maybe,_ she thought, _maybe I should go in there, just to make sure dear Robin is o of the kay._ Her left hand reached for the keypad that would let her in, when, suddenly a memory returned to her. She remembered accidently walking into Beast Boy's room after hearing pained sounds one night, only to find him-oh my! A deep red flush caught around the edges of her cheeks and spread. She certainly did not want to interrupt Robin if he was indecent, did she? Her hand was already entering her code before she realized what she was doing.

"Eep!" Oh no! No! Her eyes grew wide. She would not enter friend-Robins room without his permission…or if he does not answer this time. Yes, she decided, if Robin does not respond, then she would have a valid reason to go inside. She nodded and called out one last time.

"Robin? Friend Robin?" Her voice was a little less than a whisper, secretly hoping no response would come.

Robin heard the words faintly whispered at his door, and his breath caught. _Starfire._ Unbidden the remnants of his most recent dream collided with the past ones. Before his eyes he saw his friend die at his hands over and over.

A single, salty drop wove a path down his cheek.

"Starfire…" His choked voice found its way to the alien's ears outside the door.

Her vibrant green eyes widened at the sound of her friends voice, and she decided that her name was all the permission she needed to enter.

The door opened with a _whoosh_, and Starfire was greeted with the sight of her friend slumped over at his desk, arms by his side, eyes staring past the computer screen in front of him.

"Friend Robin? I have come to check on your leg." She moved closer to him with each word until she stood right beside him. "Friend Robin?" She rested her palm on his shoulder hoping to bring him out of his stupor.

When he felt the heaviness rest on his body, he reacted. Jumping out of his chair, he held on to the hand and twisted it around. Before he realized who he had attacked, Starfire was pinned up against the wall next to the door. Her face pressed into the cool metal, her arm wrenched up against her back.

"Robin! Robin please!" Starfire was confused as to why exactly her friend was attacking her.

For a second longer Robin held her there, and then realized what he was doing and stumbled back, his arms outstretched in an apology.

"Oh, God, Star. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean…" His masked eyes avoided hers as she turned around slowly. She was shaken. Her green eyes full of confusion and worry.

"Friend Robin, I do not understand. I know we must be ready for an attack at any time, but…" She spoke quietly and rubbed her wrist where Robin had wrenched it behind her.

"I know, Star. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't know it was you. I thought it was…someone else." His hands made some motion in an attempt to explain without actually doing so. It was bad enough having Raven know about his nightmares, but Starfire knowing was something else entirely. He didn't want her seeing him vulnerable. He didn't want his team seeing him losing it, either. Because, he thought, he was losing it a little, if he attacked Starfire like that. Maybe he should call Alfred…

"Who?" Starfire apparently forgot her pain and confusion. She was now curious. If that had not been a test of her skills, then who was Robin expecting to attack him in his room?

"Uh..It's not important." She wasn't buying it. "Really." He added. And when she looked like she might press it further, he let himself put a little weight on his injured leg and stumbled a bit. It was cheap, he knew, but it worked.

Starfire saw him stagger and moved forward to steady him, but tripped over the forgotten chair on the floor. Her momentum caused them both to fall onto the ground, Starfire landing directly on top of him, her face inches from his own. Her lips inches from his. Robin forgot to breathe and Starfire breathed in deeply. This was…enjoyable. She quite liked this position. She would have to make sure chairs were in her way more often.

Robin was having issues on his end from lack of oxygen.

"Hey, Star?"

"Yes, Robin?"

"…"

"Hmm?"

"So…um…why did you come in?"

"You said my name." She smiled and looked as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Right. Right. But, um…why were you at my door?"

"Oh. Yes. I came to check you out." That smile appeared again.

Robin blinked. Okay…huh.

"Raven would like to check you out as well. But I volunteered first." She said this with pride. And a little bit of possessiveness.

Robin, however, was completely confused. And a little flattered.

"Does it hurt?"

Huh? Robin mentally checked what exactly she could be referring to. Then he felt it. A dull pain in his left thigh. Oh yeah. Check him out. Ah. Check his leg out. Medically. Oh. His face fell a little bit, and the smile he didn't know he had been wearing thinned a little.

"Oh no!" Starfire gasped and jumped off of him. "Have I made it worse?" She yanked his leg up off the floor and brought it close to her face for inspection. Ah, there was a small drop of blood on the bandages. This was unacceptable. Robin must be in top fighting form. She looked at the leg once more and then nodded.

Robin saw the nod and became concerned. And rightly so, because in the next second Starfire had him up in her arms and was flying up towards Raven's room at breakneck speed, all while shouting out, "FRIEND RAVEN!"

They found Raven looking up from her book, her eyebrow arched at the scene before her. Robin gave a weak wave from his perch. _This was so embarrassing._

"Hey, Raven."

She gave a curt nod in response, remembering that she must keep her emotions in check.

"You can let him down now, Starfire." Her tone remained as flat as ever.

Starfire's eyes glinted pure green for a second before she settled Robin in a nearby chair. He mumbled his thanks, and was relieved to see Raven's dark energy reaching toward his wound. It was cold, almost to the point of icy. But it worked, and his leg felt as good as new within minutes. He thanked Raven and jumped up on his leg, testing it out. He gave Raven one of his bright smiles, and turned to walk out with Starfire. Woah. If he didn't know better, he would say that Starfire was a little angry.

Starfire _was_ angry. Not only did she not get to carry Robin around anymore, but he had smiled at Raven, and not at her.

"grrrr…" she grumbled, her hands automatically forming fists. Raven, sensing her emotions, glided away from Robin quickly. Robin, slightly oblivious when it came to girls, turned with the same bright smile.

"Thanks for coming to check on me, Star." His warm tone vibrated through her and she lost all anger.

"Of course, friend-Robin."

Raven stood in a mildly awkward silence as the two just stared at each other. She would never admit this out loud, but when Beast Boy bounced into her room, she was relieved.

"Hey Raven! Oh. Hey Robin. Starfire." When the two remain staring at each other, Beast Boy just went on. "Hey, um, there's a show on the discovery channel right now about-" But Raven never got to hear what the show was about because the city alarms began blaring trouble. The four raced down to the main room where Cyborg was already answering the call.

"Jump City Bank is being robbed. We gotta get down there now."

"Aw man. Again? What's that, the 4th time this week?!" Beast Boy shouted.

"Stop complaining." Raven lifted her hood to cover her eyes.

"Okay. Titans G-" Robin started.

"Um. Dude?"

"What is it, Beast Boy?!"

"Maybe you should get some pants that aren't completely ripped?"

Oh. Robin's cheeks grew hot. "Right."

He raced up to his room and changed in record time. Had he not been in such a hurry, he might have noticed that his window was slightly open. He might have noticed a small blinking light in the corner of his room as he turned the lights off. And he might have noticed a small reminder on the computer as he raced out the door about resetting the security system for the tower. But he didn't.

**Okay. So, let me know what you think. Am I still staying somewhat in character? Any issues with this being less angst-y? Any suggestions or recommendations? All welcome. **

**Thanks for sticking with me. And I'll try to update more often. But please, remind me. It really does help. (Next chapter will have some Slade, I promise.)**

**-Victory. **


	6. Chapter 6

**[A/N] Okay. When I said that this chapter would have some Slade in it, what I really meant was that it was going to have mostly Slade in it. I just didn't realize that at the time. So, Hoots, glad you like Slade. Hope I do him justice with my own take on the Teen Titans character. Obviously this Slade is not the comic book version. Otherwise, everyone would be dead already. Go team. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. Sometimes, I put on a stovetop hat, twirl my mustache and pretend I do though. It's an exciting life I lead. I do own this plot, what little of it that you can see. **

**24 Hours Previous (assume 24 hours has passed between chapter 2 and now.)**

Something strange was going on. He could feel it. He hadn't gotten this far in life without developing his senses, and right now, his gut was telling him that something odd was happening in the Titan's Tower. Something odd was happening with his apprentice. And, like it or not, that's what Robin is, was, and will be, his apprentice. He turned his orange and black clad back to the array of monitors displaying the most recent fight between Robin and himself, and faced toward a large window. His brain was going into overtime. Something strange had occurred with Robin during the exchange, and Slade was determined to figure out what it was. He had been focusing on the boy's strange reaction to the arrival of his friends. He didn't normally just mutter their names in shock, and it bothered Slade. Of course, it only bothered Slade because he hadn't been the one to completely unnerve the boy. He would get to the bottom of this. His eye narrowed out at the city before him.

A storm was blowing in from Gotham. How strange, he thought, usually storms brew in Gotham and rot there. He did enjoy that city, with the obvious exception of the Bat. He enjoyed the fear, the respect. Coming here to Jump City and playing with his new toys, the Titans, gave him a bad reputation. It made other villains question his strength, his power. Little did they know that he was only here for one thing, his successor. And it didn't hurt that he would be paying back an old debt when he finally staked his claim on the boy.

But when he leaves Jump City, when he puts on that other uniform, he is feared universally by heroes and villains. Leaving out the obviously insane ones. He turned his eye toward that chest holding his supplies and wondered if, maybe, it wasn't time to don that suit once more. Maybe a trip to Gotham was in order.

But first, his lips twitched up in an unseen smirk, he had to make plans so his playmates wouldn't get so bored that they'd notice his brief absence from the city. It wouldn't do for the Titans to figure out the pattern of Slade being absent from Jump City and Deathstroke the Terminator appearing in Gotham. They would, naturally, put together the information and inform their mentors. He didn't need trouble from Green Arrow, Aquaman, or Batman. Especially not Batman, not yet. He made his way over to his computer and began to detail an assignment to a small time villain who would comply out of sheer terror. He would leave payment for the man in the park before he left. Of course, his instructions were simple: distract the Titans by any means necessary. Hopefully the man had enough brain cells left to accomplish that task without robbing a bank. Robbing banks were obviously not the forte of anyone in this city. No one got away with the task anymore.

Now that that was out of the way, he needed some way to keep an eye on the Titans, and, more importantly, his apprentice. He routinely placed surveillance equipment in the tower, and it was routinely found and destroyed. It was an annoying little game. But, it did give him insight into how the Titans reacted to his bugs. He had placed them in the same places over the past few weeks, and discovered that once they had checked those places out, they stopped looking. All he had to do was plant more bugs and cameras around the tower. The only question was how to get in without being noticed. Especially since they upgraded their system last week.

And then he had a brilliant idea. He chuckled at his former idiocy. The best way to get a good look at everything in the Titans Tower was to be inside the Titans Tower. Not physically, of course, but rather, electronically. He would hack a backdoor into the system. He threw himself into code writing and managed to synch up to a favorite website of the big mouthed, green Titan. He wrote the code into the site and rigged it so that if the changeling clicked anywhere on the screen, it would be activated and the system would require a reboot. Once the system rebooted itself, the code would be hidden inside the security system and Slade could activate it at any point. He quickly synched his phone up to the program and set an alarm to notify him when the Tower rebooted and he was granted access.

Phase three. He looked out at the storm making its way over the city under the cover of night, grabbed his electronics and jumped out into the city. He shifted through the shadows, easily getting to the Tower across town in twenty minutes. He made his way to his favorite viewing spot, checking in on the main room, but it was just the green thing playing a video game and he had no urge to watch that. No, no urge to see that at all, but he did have a desire to make sure his apprentice was not completely crushed in a spine breaking hug from that Tamarian child.

He found his apprentice struggling to remain awake at his cluttered desk. Another odd thing, usually Robin was OCD about his desk. Everything else in the room could be messy, but his work was organized and neat. One of the few traits the Batman had instilled that Slade did not want to erase. Organization of the area around you helped to keep your mind organized. But maybe, just maybe, this wasn't a terrible thing. Maybe if Robin's mind became a little more muddied he'd be a little more pliable.

Robin had fallen asleep on top of his files. If Slade had a scrap of humanity left in him, he would have thought the scene was endearing. As it was, all he saw was Robin's inability to maintain his focus. He watched as the boy twitched in his sleep, obviously distressed. He cocked his head, thinking. Maybe it was the lack of sleep that caused his apprentice to lose his concentration and made him talk back to his master. Either that, or it was just Robin's annoying tendency to do the exact opposite of what Slade wanted.

But when Robin started to shift uncomfortably in his seat and whimper, Slade started to put things together. He was having nightmares. Sleep deprivation was one thing, and it was one thing Slade knew well, but nightmares were something else entirely, and while he was skilled in giving them to others, he wasn't exactly the master of his own. He couldn't exactly control his own horrifying memories of a boy with no voice and a woman with a wicked right hook. How was he to use this to his advantage? And could he use it, knowing what nightmares were to someone? The straight answer, yes. Nightmares were the most personal of all dreams, but as it was, Robin was his apprentice, and was not yet allowed any privacy. He heard the Tamaranian child at the door, and saw Robin pull himself from the dream and wipe his face off before she let herself in. The first thing he would do, once Robin was back in his possession, is break his attachment to that girl.

He was about to leave when he saw something that made his eye widen comically and his jaw drop. Robin had just attacked the girl. This was…perfect.

He heard the girl's strange rationalization and snorted. She was never ready for any attack. She was one of those people who genuinely believed in the goodness of the soul. She should know better, her past should have clued her in on the fact that people are not inherently good, but then again, she did show a great propensity at ignoring the lessons the world tried to teach her. But, with any luck, Robin would finally be the one to teach her about the cruelty of human beings.

And Slade felt lucky today.

He watched as the two left the room, quickly slid the window open and planted the camera, switching it on. He heard a high pitched beep and looked down at his watch. Slade felt very lucky today, the green thing had managed to activate his trap. All he needed was for the mechanical teen to reboot the entire system and he was in. Nothing could ruin this day.

He heard the alarm go off and shouts of a bank robbery. He growled and vowed to never hire that crack-head again. Still, he was in such a good mood, he planned on simply not paying the man. After all, in Jump City he wasn't an assassin for hire, and he wouldn't get anything out of killing the man. Other than a slight satisfaction, of course.

He couldn't help the smirk that graced his lips as he settled down on his motorcycle. A blue and orange cloth mask now covered his face matching the rest of his form fitting uniform. He had tossed a couple of belts of ammunition around his torso, and had weapons decorating every inch of his body. He felt more at home than ever, Deathstroke the Terminator was back and Gotham was waiting.

**[A/N]- Sorry it took so long, Hoots. Hope you're still there. Yeah. So this was all Slade, and I think next chapter will have a lot of him, too. I like writing him, so let me know if I did okay. Review please. Criticism is wanted and welcome. **


	7. Chapter 7

[A/N] Yeah, I know. Super late. Sue me. But I'm trying to get back on track. We'll see.

Chapter Seven

The road was slick. The oil and rain fell into a dangerous pattern on the streets. Marcus watched the cars slide before stopping at the light. Red illuminating his shadow on the corner on Harlan Avenue. He pulled his jacket tight around his shoulders and adjusted his beanie. The cars rolled on. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the wet brick of the alleyway. He kept one eye on the trashcan that held his stash under the lid and the other out for potential customers. It was thirty minutes later before he recognized a black and silver Rolls Royce turning the corner. It stopped at the green light, and Marcus stepped out of the shadows and off the curb, looking both ways. Clear. He was five feet from the open window when he heard a sharp crack reverberate through the streets. Something warm and wet splashed up against his face.

"What the hell?" He wiped his face. He looked at the car, noticing a hole in the windshield about the size of a ping pong ball. "Man, you've got some damage to your-" He stopped mid-sentence as he turned to look at his usual customer.

The driver of the Rolls Royce no longer had a head. There was a jaw hanging from what was left of his skull, but Marcus couldn't see much else. He tripped over the curb, stumbling back from the sight, and scrambled up to his feet. He passed out of the light and the scope of the man laying three blocks away and ten stories up.

Slade smiled underneath the orange and blue mask.

The rifle was broken down in a matter of seconds, and Slade was off into the Gotham night. The money had already been wired, and he was ready for the real reason he came to the crime ridden city-research. There was one incredibly good thing about Batman, just one, Slade surmised. The Batman had managed to acquire the most diverse, and insane, criminal gallery of any hero. And each one owed a debt of revenge for a certain little bird, too. One, in particular, was going to be helpful in his current endeavor, turning a robin into a bird of prey.

Slade slid onto his bike and raced off into the night, towards the overbearing shadow that was Arkham Asylum.

Robin watched, hands on his utility belt, as the bank robber waved his gun around the half demolished bank. The Titans hadn't been extraordinarily together on their attack formation, and Starfire had accidently flown into Cyborg and through a load bearing wall, bringing down a good section of the bank. He knew that his leadership skills were not at an all time high, considering he kept seeing the dead faces of his friends flash before his eyes, but even Batgirl could take down a cracked out bank robber without this kind of damage. Oh, what she would say if she could see him now.

"Look," He said, watching as the gun turned to focus on him now. "You're surrounded. Just put the gun down and put your hands on your head." Like that ever worked.

"You are most outnumbered." Starfire dusted building debris off her shoulder.

"Yeah, dude, just give it up already." Beast Boy stuffed a finger into his ear, cleaning it out.

"Give it up? Yeah, yeah. Sure thing." The robber chuckled a bit and released his grip on his gun, but kept his grip on his jacket.

Robin could tell his team was ready to pack this guy up. Bank robberies didn't really hold their attention anymore. They could usually just show up and that would be enough to stop it. But there was something about this guy that felt different, Robin thought, watching the man twitch a bit. He was a junkie, that was for sure. He could read that a mile away, but there was something else. Something about the way he was holding his jacket with his free hand. There was a bulge around his middle. He had something strapped to his-

Just as Robin was coming to a realization, the robber was moving his right hand into his pocket.

"Titans!" Robin shouted, leaping back. "Bomb!"

"Bomb?" Beast Boy shouted, diving behind Cyborg.

"Hey!" Cyborg shouted, trying to get a hold of Beast Boy.

"Focus, guys." Robin watched as Raven remained stationary behind the man.

"How-how did you know?" His eyes wide, he moved his jacket and revealed a large black package strapped to his stomach. There was a blinking green light on the front. "Nevermind. Stay back! Just stay back!"

"Alright, alright. We'll stay back." Robin held up his hands, but nodded his head towards Raven.

She began chanting quietly, trying for a feeling of calm. She was never good at emotions, but meditating helped her understand a sort of peace.

"What's wrong with her? What is she doing?" He revealed the switch in his pocket. "Make her stop. Make her stop!"

"Dead man's switch." Robin looked at Raven. "We've got to keep his hand around that switch so Cyborg can defuse that bomb." He looked at Cyborg. "You can defuse that bomb, right?"

"You're kidding, right? Of course I can defuse that thing." Cyborg snorted.

"Right. Okay, guys, let's keep him distracted while Raven does her thing."

"Friend Robin?" Starfire called out from her position. "I think Beast Boy has that covered."

In fact, while they weren't looking, Beast Boy had shifted into a fly and began buzzing around his face. The man had already slapped himself twice trying to squish him.

Robin put his head in his hands. "Titans…go." He muttered.

Slade looked up at the imposing building, seeing the lights begin to switch off in the cells. Arkham Asylum was going dark for the night. Just in time for a little visit to a certain inmate. He reached into a back pocket and pulled out a grappling gun. He had already made sure the security cameras were going to have a bit of a malfunction in 60 seconds, and the guards were never hard to bribe. In fact, for an asylum holding Gotham's most dangerous lunatics, Arkham was quite easy to break into. Especially with Batman on other business. The murder of a high ranking businessman involved in Gotham's golden boy's industry, Wayne Corp, was enough to garner Batman's interest. And if it wasn't enough, he had left a little present for the Bat just in case.

Time was up. He fired the gun and scaled up the side in record time. Ding. Floor 8. Home of the demented attorney with a serious coin fetish, a man with too much make-up and not enough brain cells, and, the man of the hour, the straw scientist.

His boots clicked softly on the stone floor, too quiet for anyone else to hear, except the inmates who became attuned to every sound out of place. He saw the glint of a coin toss out of the corner of his eye, and passed by that cell without a second though.

"Ooh! You're not the bellhop!" A voice cackled into the night. "This place has lousy service. See if I stay here again!"

Deathstroke ignored him. He knew that would only invite further comments on Jokers part, but he could really care less.

"So…whatta you say, ole one eyes, help a poor clown out?" He rattled a cup against the glass door of his cell. "Or at least donate for the cause. Some of us a too stingy with our money." He hissed the last part at Two Face. "For old times' sake."

"We don't have 'old times,' Clown." Deathstroke said, moving past the green haired man to the last cell. "Scarecrow."

A small form in the corner of the cell looked up at the sound of his name. A bag shrouded his face, and straw stuck out of his sleeves and neck. "Who calls the god of fear?"

Deathstroke rolled his eye. Seriously? "Long time, no see, Dr. Crane."

"Ah, the assassin."

"Ha!" Came a shout from the next cell. "Well, he certainly knows how to murder a good time!"

"You're just asking to be dismembered. Slowly."

"Gulp! Jeez. Someone woke up on the wrong side of creepy today!"

Deathstroke aimed his gun at Joker's head in the cell.

"Scarecrow. How would you like a day pass?"

The masked man lifted his head, revealing a hangman's noose around his neck, and a grin stretched across the burlap.

Harvey Bullock spent twenty minutes staring at what used to be Aaron Hardwick, Manager of Accounting at Wayne Corp before he reached for his spare donut. As usual, he missed the subtle entrance of the cloaked figure to his left. And, as usual, spilled his coffee when the figure spoke.

"Sniper shot."

"Jesus. A little warning would be nice."

Bullock couldn't tell, but he thought he saw the eye slits narrow a bit in the mask.

"Yeah, yeah. We got that from the scene."

"A professional hit."

"Or a really lucky amateur."

"Professional." The figure insisted, gliding past Bullock and circling the car. How Batman managed to still look threatening when looking at shards of glass, he didn't know.

"Well, we'll figure it out. It is our job, after all."

But Batman wasn't paying attention to the Detective, not surprisingly. He was examining the way the car sat heavy on the back tires.

"Pop the trunk."

"What? No. We're still waiting on the forensics guys. Don't want to ruin a print."

Batman reached into the car and pulled the trunk lever.

"Hey!" Bullock spat donut at him. "What did I just say?"

"Definitely professional." Batman said, opening the trunk. And definitely trying to get his attention. As if the Manager from Wayne Corp wasn't enough, the body in the trunk definitely was. Batman backed away into the night, anger etched into every inch of leather, while Bullock came around the back end.

He choked a little on the remainder of his late night snack when he saw what sat there. A man lay bound and gagged in the trunk. He was dressed in a costume version of Robin's uniform and had a bullet hole clean through his head.


	8. Chapter 8

[A/N] Look. Holy Shit. An update before 6 months. I'm not a fan of this chapter, but I'm hoping to pick up on the action in the next few chapters. Thanks for sticking with me.

Chapter Eight

Robin caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the Pizza Parlor's windows as he stumbled by. He paused at the sight. His uniform was torn and ripped, hair coated in rubble and dust, turning him into the image of an ancient teenager. To top that, his face was covered in small scratches and splashed with blue and red. He looked absolutely ridiculous. And tired. And a bit angry, if the tightness around his jaw was any kind of clue. He could see the people inside the shop gaping at his reflection, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Friend Robin?" A shy voice called out behind him. It was distorted and muffled by the damage the blast had done to his ears. He turned to face the Tamaranian, careful to keep his eyes off of hers.

"Oh, Robin…" He could feel her hands brushing up against his face, running up to his hairline. Her hands were soft and cool, so when pain flared at the side of his head, he didn't understand. She touched the spot again, and he turned away from her touch with a hiss.

"We failed." He whispered, taking her hand in his gloved one and pulling it from his face.

"Robin." Cyborg came into view, his own body covered in rubble and blue dye, as well. "We didn't fail. Sure, we didn't plan for this, but no one was seriously injured and-"

"The bomber will be in the hospital for days. Beast Boy broke his arm. The bank is a pile of rubble. We are covered in blue dye."

"Well, yeah, but-"

"How did we not fail?" Robin turned his back on his teammates and continued down the sidewalk.

"Friend Robin!"

"Let him go, Starfire. Let him go."

_-_-_-_-BREAK_-_-_-_-_

By the time Robin made his way back to the Titan's Tower, he had lost some of the anger. He knew that his team could not have completely controlled the outcome of the bank robber. They hadn't been prepared. They couldn't have guessed that the man would have a bomb strapped to him. And they couldn't have guessed that the man would be stupid enough to put another bomb in the bag of money he was trying to steal with a timer on it. So when Raven managed to get the robber to remain still and Robin and Cyborg had pulled the bomb off the man, and disarmed the main charge, they thought they had been done. Cyborg tossed it aside. A minute later, as Beast Boy was leading the man out of the building, a secondary charge blew.

Sure, no one had died, but Robin should have known better. He should have guessed that something was wrong with the scenario. Batman taught him better, and he was sure that Batman already knew about this and already had something to say about it. But he would worry about that later. Right now, he needed to know that his team was okay.

_-_-_-_-BREAK_-_-_-_-_

Slade had spent way too long watching the dark doctor work. He had played chess against himself in his mind ten times already, always ending in a stalemate, and still the Scarecrow was mixing chemicals and altering formulas. Soon he would need the test subjects, and Slade would have to be careful. They were, after all, still in Gotham and he had already garnered the Bat's attention. It would not do to have this plan interrupted by the genius of a man with pointy ears and a thing for capes. His eye narrowed at his guest across the room.

"How much longer, Scarecrow?"

"Don't interrupt me."

Slade raised an eyebrow. The god of fear was lucky Slade needed him right now, but when his task was completed…

"Don't leave the building." Slade told him, slipping out of the shadows where he had been watching his guest. He had already put a tracker on the straw man, and could make sure he didn't leave the building from anywhere. He had somewhere to be, after all, and someone to see.

_-_-_-_BREAK-_-_-_-_-_

The night sat heavy on his shoulders, the humidity weighing him down against the rooftop where he lay in wait. He could feel his skin practically vibrating with anticipation. It wasn't every day that he got a chance to catch sight of Batman. He had been told to wait here and he would see the knight of Gotham in person. The message had just appeared in his inbox that morning, and he could not resist showing up. After all, what else was he going to do? Sit at home and catalog his newspaper clippings?

The sky hung in low ribbons around the moon, leaving little light to see shadows by. It was drizzling and his fingertips were getting cold. He had been waiting for an hour already. He shifted in the dark and was beginning to suspect that Martha had been playing a trick on him when he felt a presence behind him.

"I believe you're waiting for me." A low voice reached his ears, and he began to roll over on his back. "Stay where you are." He froze. That voice. So commanding. He shivered. Batman. Batman was here. Talking to him.

"Did you bring it?"

"Yes." He whispered. He still couldn't believe that it had been Batman to contact him. That Batman knew about his catalog, about his project. He couldn't believe that Batman was interested in him. But then again, how could he not be as interested in Brandon as Brandon was in Batman. "I almost didn't believe it was you. That you read my work."

"Don't sell yourself short." The voice said and Brandon glowed in the moonlight. He handed the binder over to the figure behind him and when he didn't hear anything for a minute, turned around.

"Batman?"

There was no one on the rooftop. The only trace of the man was a small clipping that had fallen from the binder. It read "The Fall of the Flying Graysons." And beneath the title was a picture of a family smiling and waving to an invisible crowd.


	9. Chapter 9

"Report." The voice came through the computer screen just as cool and demanding as it would have in real life. There was something demanding about Batman himself that would just not abate for any amount of distance. His presence came through any communicator. Robin found himself wondering if they could just record him leaning into a camera and growling out "confess" to play during interrogations instead of actually answering Batman.

"Robin." An eyebrow was twitching somewhere.

"Right. Sixteen muggings in the last two days, five robberies, one con man, and a truck full of chickens exploded on the freeway- that caused a bit of a stir, though that might have been because of Beast Boy -he was teaching them to-"

"And yesterday?"

Robin sighed. "Yeah, well, it seemed like it was pretty straight forward…"

"_Seemed?_" He didn't even need to raise his voice, though Robin could tell that would happen soon anyway. The inflection alone made a shiver run up his back. Of all the things Robin feared, the Joker, the nightmares, Beast Boy's cooking, disappointing Batman was the one he feared the most.

"I know, believe me, I know." He rubbed the back of his neck, where a bruise had formed over the night, and winced.

"I thought I trained you better than that."

"You did! Look, I'll get it right. I'm just working out a few kinks. Working with a team is different. It's not like I have complete control over any of them. I don't always know what they're going to do, but-"

"Exactly. I'm starting to reconsider letting you join the Titans." Something beeped off screen in Gotham, garnering Batman's attention.

"_Letting me?_" That was not how that conversation had gone in Robin's memory. "You _let_ me join the Titans?"

"Maybe you need more experience with serious criminals, and maybe then you'll learn when a bank robbery isn't a bank robbery." Robin spluttered on his end, trying to come up with an adequate response that wouldn't get him dragged back to Gotham by his cape. "I expect a full report tomorrow night." The screen went dark.

_-_-_-_BREAK-_-_-_-_

Slade walked into the impromptu lab where Scarecrow was admiring his work- a swirling concoction of blues and greens in a beaker. He set his prize down on desk and moved toward the felon.

"It's ready?"

Scarecrow nodded, excitement thrumming through his veins. He had never even contemplated this idea, and yet, it would be the best thing he'd ever done. That is, if he got it right. Imagine taking down Batman with a custom ordered nightmare. Think of the profits! He giggled. Think of the _power_!

"This is, of course, the first real test. I'll need several test subjects to alter the formula." The eyes of his mask narrowed.

"Naturally. I'll gather the necessary volunteers tonight." Until then, Slade thought, I'll have to contain the dear, deranged doctor with busy work. Or, he thought, even better…In seconds Scarecrow was on the ground, snoring softly into his burlap mask.

There was no way Slade was listening to that man ramble about his infinitely evil ego longer than he had to. Especially not when it was nothing compared to his own.

He stalked back to his desk, removing the dark cloak from his shoulders and the cowl from his head. It certainly had done the trick-that fool believed his ruse. As if Batman would actually be interested in the ramblings of an obsessed fan. No, but on the other hand, he was definitely interested, especially since the man was onto something. He sat down in the desk, pausing only when he heard a low groan from the next room. Scarecrow had begun to drool on the floor. His nose wrinkled in revulsion. Wintergreen would not be happy with his list of chores tonight. De-droolifying the lair.

Inside Brandon LeFoll's "Batman Binder" was a list of possible high ranking members of Gotham society that were potentially Batman. He snorted when he read the list. There were several corrupt politicians, a former District Attorney who was now sporting a rather indecisive suit, the incompetent Mayor, the Police Commissioner, and one or two wealthy and usually drunk socialites. He snorted when he read Gordon's name. Definitely too old to be beating up crackheads on the sly. Besides, how exactly could he be in the same place at the same time? Gordon was notorious for being the only one Batman really talked to and trusted. Well, besides a certain bird. He was almost regretting the potential waste of explosives he used setting up LeFoll's apartment.

Brandon had a rambling answer to that. Some sort of trick with mirrors and an actor. Whatever. Most of the names on the list bore the same scrutiny. And then, in the middle of the binder was one name circled. Bruce Wayne. Articles outlined Wayne's activities coinciding with Batman appearances. It turned out that Wayne was never seen in the same place that Batman was. And to top off binder, was a flooding of pictures of Wayne's new ward- one Richard Grayson. Formerly of the Flying Grayson's infamy.

There, waving from the top of a circus tent was a boy of about eight, his parents proudly proclaiming that he was the youngest aerialist to perform without the aid of a net. He scratched his chin and picked up a black pen. A domino mask was added to the flyer. His face cracked into a grin, which only grew when he flipped the page.

The last article on the Graysons was Richard Grayson huddled by his fallen parents while a shocked crowd looked on. And, as the story read, a very shocked Bruce Wayne who had lost his own parents at the same age. Bruce Wayne, who would later become Richard Grayson's guardian and mentor in all things bat. A sub-headline read, "connected by murder."

"Victims," Slade laughed, "aren't we all."

_-_-_-_BREAK-_-_-_-_

Robin fumed at his computer screen in the minutes that lapsed between Batman's departure and the appearance of Alfred. The older man's kind face filled the screen. He didn't appear to have aged a day, his white hair looking just a distinguished as it had last week, and his smile just as kind, but his eyes looked tired.

"He didn't mean it, Master Dick." The butler's voice was low, as if Batman could somehow hear him from across Gotham. Though, Dick thought, maybe he could. "He's under a lot of pressure."

"Yeah, I know. Gotham's tough. Tougher than Jump City. I know. He thinks I should be there, helping him instead of wasting my time here."

"I think," Alfred said, voice a bit distant, "that he is quite glad that you are not here at the moment."

"What do you mean?" Dick's eyes widened with shock. "He doesn't want me there?"

"Oh no, of course he always wants you here. No, I meant there's a particularly dangerous case at the moment." Alfred smoothed things over.

"Well, maybe I should-"

"I think you should stay where you are most needed, Master Dick, with your team. That is, after all, where you would most want to be, is it not?"

Dick smiled in response. He couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Even with the clattering of pans in the kitchen, signaling Starfire's renewed attempts at baking.

"Hey, Alfred?" He remembered his promise to Raven two nights before. He shifted in his seat. "How do you deal with nightmares?"

The old butler smiled, his eyes betraying his deep sadness at the question. After all, Alfred thought, boys his age should not have to deal with the nightmares he gets.

_-_-_-_BREAK-_-_-_-_

Ash hung in the air on 24th Street, floating down to the streets. "Gotham Snow," they called it. Ash from the mad men and women parading through the city, blowing up everything they could get their hands on. This seemed no different to the police and arson investigators gathered around the apartment complex. The apartment that housed the ignition point was that of an ex-con. Ralph Easton, a former bank robber whose expertise, or lack thereof, was in explosive devices. The explosion may have started in his apartment, but it took out the six surrounding apartments. Ten people dead, four in critical condition.

"Open and shut." Harvey Bullock licked the remnants of glazed sugar from his lips. He wasn't even sure why they called him out. There were plenty of other detectives in the GCPD with backgrounds in arson that could have been called. But, it had been his lucky day. Not like he had anywhere else to be anyway.

"Not exactly." A dark shadow breezed past. Annnd getting luckier, he thought, scuffing his loafers against the concrete. A nervous habit he developed in the academy. And Batman always brought it out in him. It was like he intentionally crept up on him every opportunity he had. Bullock never saw him do it to any of the other detectives.

"Ralph Easton cleaned up his act." He could have sworn he saw Batman glance down at his feet and smirk. He was wrong, of course, Batman never smirked. Must have been a trick of the light.

"Yeah, got religion or something. So what? I doubt God had anything to do with this." He scowled as he swept his arm across the still burning remains of the complex.

"Not God." Batman knelt by the rubble. He ran the names of the ten people killed through his head. Only one jumped out at him. Brandon LeFoll. That name sounded familiar. That's right. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits of white against the smoky night. That was the name of the man who had tried to get in contact with Dick after Bruce Wayne became his legal guardian. A treacherous pattern was emerging in Gotham, and Batman's protégé was in the middle of it, despite not being in the city limits.

**[A/N]- So yeah, a couple of days late, but I hope this is adequate for the few readers I actually have. Please let me know what you think. It doesn't take long to review. Just let me know you're still interested in reading this. Thanks. **


	10. Chapter 10

Ender Williams was used to walking down the darkened alleyways on his way home from his job, smelling like old French fries and grease. He was used to the alley dogs sniffing at his heels, jumping up on his apron, trying to get a taste of the greasy fried potatoes. Sometimes he would take a small package of fries home with him and toss them out to the dogs. Tonight he just wanted to get home. It was later than usual, 10:26 by his watch, and with the sun completely down, the freaks came out.

He shuffled by the blanketed homeless, not really noticing that there were less shadows huddled in corners under cardboard than usual. He really only noticed something was wrong when the dogs started whimpering behind him. When he turned to stare, they were shaking and shuffling backwards.

"What's wrong with you guys?" He asked, feeling a shiver run up his spine. That's when it hit him. What had really been wrong this entire time. The streets were quiet. Even in the middle of the night they roared with life in Gotham, or, more adequately, death, but not now. Now there was silence and that could only spell trouble.

And trouble filled the space behind him with a grin, one gloved hand reaching forward out of the darkness and finding hold around the 19 year olds neck.

Ender Williams was the third man to go missing in twenty minutes with no witnesses.

_-_-_-_BREAK-_-_-_-_

Robin smiled at the way Starfire was licking the pancake batter off her orange fingers, obviously delighted. Raven and Beastboy were less delighted at the way the batter clung to their costumes and hair. Raven was in the process of trying to spell it off of her, with no success. Beast Boy was attempting to spit out whatever it was that he had ingested while sampling the batter.

"Would you like a taste, friend Robin?" Starfire asked, green eyes sparkling with good intentions. Raven tried to signal a huge "NO" from behind her.

He just chuckled. Alfred was right, he thought, this is how to get rid of nightmares. Friends and laughter.

"Hey, Rob, come in here for a sec!" Cyborg had set about rebooting his system for any maintenance thirty minutes ago. He'd missed the dinner debate that had ended in Starfire vocally volunteering to cook.

"What's going on?" Robin asked, stepping into the living room. The screen on the television had been converted to a computer screen at Cyborg was busy scanning the tower. He recognized the way the screen was lighting up. Someone had been planting devices inside the tower. Slade, no doubt, he scoffed, always amazed that the man had time to plant listening devices in the same places in the tower.

"I've managed to install this really cool scanning software."

"I can see that…" Robin was losing track of the point.

"Yeah, but check this out," Cyborg said, pointing at the screen. "Look how many devices it's picked up on. Either we've been missing these the whole time, or something's up with my system."

Robin looked at the screen, there were about five devices unaccounted for, one in each of the Titan's rooms, not counting Slade's usual hiding spots.

"Let's check it out."

_-_-_-_BREAK-_-_-_-_

Slade looked at his volunteers. Sixteen in total, about two hours worth of work in procuring, and two hours well spent. They looked up at him, wide eyed and pale and completely in terror. It was so beautiful he felt his mouth threatening to crack a smile, which might terrify them even more.

"Good evening." He began, turning his back on them and walking towards the still sleeping Scarecrow. He prodded the man with his foot until he felt the snores shift into grumbles of awareness. When he was sure the man was getting up, he turned to face the men again. "If there is any consolation for what you'll be doing tonight, it's that you'll be making history."

Hm, he thought, judging the reactions of the men, that didn't quite seem to comfort them as much as he had thought. Perhaps the doctor would have a better bedside manner. Doctor Crane was rising from the ground, sans mask. One of the volunteers seemed to recognize the man.

"Doctor Crane! Help us!" An older man, clearly homeless by the smell of him, struggled forward out of line towards Crane.

"Doctor Crane?" He looked confused as he stared at the man. "I'm sorry, the doctor's out." He turned around pulling the burlap sack over his head and reaching for a purple vial. He popped the vial into the dispenser and turned back around. "But Scarecrow's in!" He released the new toxin right into the man's face.

"Now tell me," he whispered, frightfully close to the man who was now shaking in terror at the way the burlap seemed to stretch into a grotesque grin and snap at his nose. "What are you afraid of?"

Slade watched all this with a blank eye. Scarecrow seemed to have forgotten who was in charge here. Besides, if the man had completed the formula correctly, he should already know what the man was afraid of. And, if he were to confess, he wasn't entirely as interested in this process as he should be, he was more interested in what Crane's reaction would be, as he fully intended to use the purple vial concealed in his left hand on the man afterwards.

_-_-_-_BREAK-_-_-_-_

Robin looked down at the small camera in his fingers. He found it in the corner of his room, tucked into the wall of the Tower. It had to have been installed with the Titans Tower, which was impossible. Except here it was, and there were four others in Cyborg's hands. And worst of all, he recognized the camera. He didn't even need to see the small WE engraved in the side of the device to know that Wayne Enterprises had manufactured these five cameras and that Batman had installed them himself. He'd been spying on them from day one.

"How did we miss these?" Cyborg was confused, there was no way these got past his scanning software for this long.

"Did you switch scanners?" Robin asked, already knowing the answer.

"Huh? Yeah, well, Queen Industries had a breakthrough in software, so I figured I'd download their new scanning tech instead of Wayne's. Why would that matter though?"

Robin felt betrayal sink and fester in his gut. Batman didn't even trust him to handle the lesser known villains here without keeping an eye on him. And not just him, but his teammates. His teammates who he couldn't tell about this because that would mean revealing who he was and how Batman got his hands on top secret Wayne Enterprises equipment.

Batman didn't trust him. Fine. Whatever. Nothing new there. But Batman spying on his teammates was unacceptable and there was no way he was going to stand for that. It was time for this conversation to be face to face.

"Rob?" Cyborg asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm going to Gotham."

**[A/N] I have plans for Slade and Scarecrow that involve Batman, who will definitely make an appearance next chapter in a big way. But I thought I had avoided this long enough, so I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. I haven't decided if I want the Mad Hatter to make an appearance yet. The Joker will for certain, but suggestions on villains? **


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